A character-based internal classification of the Cariban language family

A character-based internal classification of theCariban language family

Sergio Meira, Joshua Birchall & Natalia Chousou-Polydouri

Museu Paraense Emılio Goeldi - Ciencias HumanasCNRS - Dynamique du Langage

Societas Linguistica Europaea - 48th Annual MeetingLeiden, September 4th, 2015

The Cariban language family

One of the largest in South America

25-45 varieties

Many of them extinct

Most languages spoken in northern Amazonia

Sergio Meira, Joshua Birchall & Natalia Chousou-Polydouri A character-based internal classification of the Cariban family

The Cariban language family


Previous classification

Based on Gildea’s (2012) “somewhat speculative” classification*

Parukotoan : Katxuyana, Waiwai, Hixkaryana

Pekodian : Bakairi, Arara, Ikpeng

Venezuelan : Pemong, Panare, Mapoyo, Kumana, Tamanaku,Yawarana, Pemono, Chayma, Cumanagoto

Nahukwa : Upper Xingu Carib

Guianan : Kari’nja, Dekwana, Taranoan (Tiriyo, Akuriyo,Karihona), Wayana

Unclassified: Apalai , Waimiri , Yukpa

*Order of clades in list reflect Gildea’s confidence in their existence


Major dialect clusters

Pemong-Kapong: Makushi, Arekuna, Akawaio, Pemong, Tau-repang, Patamona, Ingariko, Kamarakoto

Upper Xingu Carib: Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Matipu, Nahukwa


Some problems

Little agreement of higher-order branches

Only consensus on Parukotoan, Nahukwa, Pekodian

Even Parukotoan is shallow (borderline language/dialects)

Guianan is often recognized, but varies between authors

No classification by strict application of the Comparative Method

Conflicting theories on migration routes and homelands

Venezuelan homeland, multiple southern and westernmigrations (Durbin 1977, Meira & Franchetto 2005)

Southern homeland, single early northern migration(Rodrigues 1985)


Some questions

Validity of clades proposed in Gildea(2012)

Ordering of splits among the main clades

Principal direction of migration

Number of independent migrations


Coding Method (Gray & Atkinson 2003)

Swadesh list of 100 meanings with some adjustments

collapse redundancies: fly/swim/go, bark/skin, rain/watersubstitute jaguar for dogsingle value per meaning per language

Cognate sets within each meaning (form-meaning sets)

no semantic shiftcognacy judged on similarity and known sound correspondencesbinary coding (presence/absence)? assigned when the meaning was not found in sources

748 form-meaning sets


Distance-based methods - NeighborNet

Tiriyo

Apalai

Wayana

KatxuyanaWaiwai

HixkaryanaDekwana

MapoyoYawarana

Panare

TamanakuChayma

CumanagotoWayumara

Purukoto

MakushiTaurepang

ArekunaAkawaioPatamuna

Bakairi

AraraIkpeng

KuhikuguSapara

Opon-Carare

Yukpa

Waimiri

KarinaVen

KarihonaAkuriyo

Pemon

Pemono

KarinaSur

Delta score = 0.381 s.d. = 0.034

Outliers:Panare 0.441Sapara 0.429Wayumara 0.428Opon-Carare 0.420


Bayesian phylogenetic inference

Posterior probability

The a posteriori beliefs about a model given (a) our a priori beliefsabout the model and (b) our observed data

model of character evolution: potentially asymmetric (cognateloss easier than cognate gain)

relaxed clock: rate of evolution able to vary between branches


Calibrations

Tip dates

The year the data was collected, using 2010 as “today”

Tamanaku: 240 years—published by Gilij in 1780, data fromhis 20-year stay among the Tamanku beginning around 1750

Opon-Carare: 50 years—published in 1958, data from afield trip about 3 years prior

Sapara, Wayumara, Parukoto: 100 years—fromKoch-Grunberg’s 1910 trip from Roraima to Orinoco


MCC tree - Clade colors according to Gildea (2012)

Pemon

OponCarare

Arara

Karihona

Tamanaku

Wayana

Waimiri

Kuikuro

Waiwai

KarinaVen

Bakairi

Chayma

Yukpa

Patamuna

Wayumara

Hixkaryana

MapoyoYawarana

Purukoto

Cumanagoto

Dekwana

KarinaSur

Panare

Apalai

Taurepang

Akuriyo

AkawaioArekuna

Tiriyo

Ikpeng

Katxuyana

Pemono

Makushi

Sapara

1

0.39

0.46

1

0.59

1 0.94

1

1

0.13

0.98

0.62

0.75

0.37

0.53

0.59

0.6

1

0.63

0.26

0.35

0.97

1

0.99

1

0.96

1

0.4 0.541

0.56

0.87

1


Summary of results

Clear identification of the most solid clades:

Parukotoan (1.00): Hixkaryana, WaiWai, Katxuyana

Pekodian (0.98): Ikpeng, Arara, Bakairi

No support for:

Clear Venezuelan branch

Panare as a sister to the Pemongan group

New suggested clades:

Wayumara + Purukoto (0.87)

Wayana + Apalai (0.96) (may be driven by lexical borrowing)

Guianan: Taranoan + Wayana-Apalai (1.00)


Conservative classification (> 0.75)

Sapa

raAr

ara

Ikpe

ngBa

kairi

Kuhi

kugu

Pem

onTa

urep

ang

Akaw

aio

Arek

una

Pata

mun

aM

akus

hiW

ayum

ara

Puru

koto

Hix

kary

ana

Wai

wai

Katx

uyan

aC

haym

aC

uman

agot

oTa

man

aku

Pem

ono

Map

oyo

Yaw

aran

aPa

nare

Dek

wan

aTi

riyo

Akur

iyo

Karih

ona

Way

ana

Apal

aiKa

rinaV

enKa

rinaS

urW

aim

iriYu

kpa

Opo

n-C

arar

e

Nuclear Cariban

Peko

dian

Pemongan

Way

umar

an

Paru

koto

an

Kum

anan

Map

oyan

Gui

anan

Tara

noan


Migration and Homeland

No evidence for northern migration

Two southern migrations (Pekodian and Nahukwa)

Cariban homeland north of the Amazon


Future directions

Analyze dataset using etymologically-based cognate sets

Add more calibration points from archaeological data

Expand lexical dataset with more meanings

Analyze phonological characters (correspondence sets)


Thank you!


A character-based internal classification of the Cariban language family

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